Dropbox 2.0 For iOS Launches With New Look, Photo Tab, New Upload Features

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Dropbox has updated its mobile app with a new user interface and a refined photo viewing experience on iOS, making significant improvements on all fronts.

The all-new Dropbox for iOS app brings a redesigned, streamlined user interface (UI), a new Photos tab that allows users to scroll through a timeline of their automatically uploaded pictures, as well as several enhancements to the photo-browsing experience. Users can also check the photos they've uploaded from anywhere else.

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With the new updates, users can also select a photo and view it in full screen, "with nary a button in sight."

"This means you can get maximum real estate when you're flipping through puppy photos, or those pics of your bare feet. And to make things even better, our new speedy scroller will help you navigate all the way back to time immemorial (or your earliest photos) in seconds. Even if you have 'Billions and Billions' of them," touted Dropbox in its Dec. 14 blog post announcing the update.

Moreover, Dropbox also noted that it has improved uploads as well, now allowing users create a new folder or upload something simply by tapping the "+" icon.

"We've packed a ton of love and tiny details into our new iOS design, and we think you'll dig its simplicity. For example, we got rid of the text labels on our tabs in favor of clean and streamlined iconography. Splashed across the app is the glorious Dropbox blue you've come to know and love, and we've reduced complexity to make everything feel so fresh and so clean, clean."

The focus on photos with this new update is due to the fact that Dropbox users, especially mobile users, are using the service mainly for photographs. Dropbox may have started out as a service for syncing data, but it has become more of a locker for memories. The company believes that those memories deserve the best experience possible, and that's what the new updates aim to provide.

Meanwhile, the new UI also has improved integration with the camera upload feature, sporting a slide-down bar that displays how many uploads are still due out of a current batch. The upload bar gets out of the way when not in use, and pops up in the standard "pull-to-check" motion.

The splash screen has been updated as well with a Wi-Fi+Cellular button, an option previously buried in the settings of the app. Dropbox hopes that pushing this feature at the front of the introduction screen will encourage adoption.

Lastly, the Dropbox icon itself has gotten a refresh, with the top of the box now inviting users to drop something inside. The previous icon aimed to reflect Dropbox' "sketch" artwork style, but was not very suitable for a crowded home screen.